polluted

polluted — adjective

1. describes air, water, or land that has been made dirty or dangerous because harm

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

describes air, water, or land that has been made dirty or dangerous because harmful chemicals, waste, or other unwanted substances have been added to it.

Example

The river near the factory is so polluted that no fish can live there anymore.

so + adjective + that-clause for result

Many children in the city suffer from breathing problems caused by polluted air.

collocation: polluted air / polluted water

Common collocations
  • heavily polluted
  • badly polluted
  • highly polluted
  • polluted air
  • polluted water
  • polluted soil
  • polluted environment
  • polluted river
  • polluted beach
Synonyms
  • contaminated

    more specific; often refers to germs or invisible chemicals (e.g. contaminated water after a flood)

  • dirty

    broader and less formal; can describe anything soiled, not necessarily with an environmental danger

  • toxic

    specifically poisonous or harmful if touched or swallowed (e.g. toxic waste)

Antonyms
  • clean
  • pure

    suggests no harmful substances at all

Grammar Patterns

be + polluted

polluted + noun

be + adverb + polluted (e.g. heavily polluted)

Usage Note

Commonly paired with intensifying adverbs such as 'heavily', 'badly', and 'highly'. Frequently combines with nouns for natural resources: 'polluted water', 'polluted air', 'polluted soil', 'polluted environment'.

Common Mistakes

The river is very pollution.
The river is very polluted.
'pollution' is a noun; 'polluted' is the adjective form.
The polluting air makes me cough.
The polluted air makes me cough.
use the past participle (-ed) as an adjective, not the present participle (-ing).

2. describes something that has lost its original good quality or purity because of

2.adjectiveB2
Definition

describes something that has lost its original good quality or purity because of an unwanted external influence — for example, a relationship, a person's mind, or a moral atmosphere that has been spoiled by a bad element.

Example

Élise felt that the political debate was polluted by personal attacks and lies.

passive: be + polluted + by + agent

The children's minds became polluted after they spent hours watching violent shows.

Common collocations
  • polluted by greed
  • polluted by corruption
  • polluted atmosphere
  • polluted minds
  • polluted spirit
Synonyms
  • corrupted

    similar in meaning but often carries a stronger moral judgment (e.g. a corrupted official)

  • tainted

    suggests a slight or gradual spoiling, not necessarily total corruption (e.g. tainted reputation)

  • poisoned

    figurative use describing slow damage done by a bad influence (e.g. a poisoned relationship)

Antonyms
  • pure
  • unspoiled

    suggests something that has kept its original good quality

Grammar Patterns

be + polluted + by + noun phrase

become + polluted

Usage Note

This figurative sense appears mostly in formal or literary writing. The cause of the corruption is typically introduced by 'by': 'polluted by greed' or 'polluted by violence'. In everyday conversation, 'spoiled' or 'ruined' is more natural.

Common Mistakes

The party was polluted by bad music.' (too dramatic for a casual complaint)
The party was ruined by bad music.
the figurative sense of 'polluted' is formal or literary; 'ruined' or 'spoiled' works better in everyday speech.
His mind was pollution by bad ideas.
His mind was polluted by bad ideas.
use the adjective 'polluted', not the noun 'pollution'.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Polluted and contaminated both describe something made unclean by harmful substances, but contaminated often refers to invisible germs or chemicals (e.g. water contaminated with bacteria), whereas polluted typically describes visible or widespread environmental damage from human activity. Dirty is a much broader, everyday word that can apply to anything soiled — a dirty shirt or a dirty floor — and lacks the sense of environmental danger that polluted carries. Toxic specifically means poisonous and usually describes substances directly harmful to health (e.g. toxic chemicals), while polluted can refer to air or water that is unhealthy without being acutely poisonous. For example, you would say 'the river is polluted with factory waste' but 'the soil is contaminated with lead'; a 'toxic workplace' is one that harms your emotional health in a more direct, poisonous way.

contaminateddirty ↗toxic ↗polluted ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Polluted comes from the Latin verb polluere, meaning 'to defile or to soil'. It entered English through Old French in the late Middle Ages, originally carrying a religious or moral meaning about defilement. Its use for environmental contamination — polluted air, polluted water — only became common in the 19th century during the Industrial Revolution.